The present invention generally relates to machines for cutting products, including but not limited to slicing food products. The invention particularly relates to a knife assembly for securing a knife to a slicing machine.
Various types of equipment are known for slicing, shredding and granulating food products, as nonlimiting examples, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and meat products. Widely used machines for this purpose are commercially available from Urschel Laboratories, Inc., and include machines under the names Model CC® and Model CCL. The Model CC® and CCL machines are centrifugal-type slicers capable of slicing a wide variety of products at high production capacities. The Model CC® line of machines is particularly adapted to produce uniform slices, strip cuts, shreds and granulations, and the Model CCL line is particularly adapted to produce slices or chips of a waffle or lattice type. Certain configurations and aspects of Model CC® machines are represented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,139,128, 3,139,129, 5,694,824 and 6,968,765, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Certain configurations and aspects of Model CCL machines are represented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,139,127 and 3,139,130, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1 schematically depicts a machine 10 representative of a Model CC® machine. The machine 10 includes a generally annular-shaped cutting head 12 equipped with cutting knives (not shown) mounted at its inner circumference. An impeller 14 is coaxially mounted within the cutting head 12 and has an axis 17 of rotation that coincides with an axis of the cutting head 12. The impeller 14 is rotationally driven about its axis 17 through a shaft that is enclosed within a housing 18 and coupled to a gear box 16. The cutting head 12 is mounted on a support ring 15 above the gear box 16 and remains stationary as the impeller 14 rotates. Products are delivered to the cutting head 12 and impeller 14 through a feed hopper 11 located above the impeller 14. In operation, as the hopper 11 delivers products to the impeller 14, centrifugal forces cause the products to move outward into engagement with the knives of the cutting head 12. The impeller 14 comprises generally radially-oriented paddles 13, each having a face that engages and directs the products radially outward toward and against the knives of the cutting head 12 as the impeller 14 rotates. Other aspects pertaining to the construction and operation of Model CC® machines, including improved embodiments thereof, can be appreciated from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,139,128, 3,139,129, 5,694,824 and 6,968,765.
FIG. 2 is an isolated view of the cutting head 12 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a fragmentary bottom view of the cutting head 12. The cutting head 12 is generally annular-shaped with cutting knives 20 mounted on its perimeter. Each knife 20 projects radially inward in a direction generally opposite the direction of rotation of the impeller 14, and defines a cutting edge at its radially innermost extremity. The cutting head 12 is shown in FIG. 2 as further comprising a lower support ring 22, an upper support ring 24, and circumferentially-spaced support segments, referred to herein as shoes 26. The knives 20 of the cutting head 12 are individually secured to the shoes 26 with knife assemblies 28. Each knife assembly 28 includes a knife holder 28A mounted to the radially inward-facing side of a shoe 26, and a clamp 28B mounted on the radially outward-facing side of a shoe 26 to secure a knife 20 to the knife holder 28A. The shoes 26 are represented as secured with bolts 30 to the support rings 22 and 24. The shoes 26 are equipped with coaxial pivot pins (not shown) that engage holes in the support rings 22 and 24. By pivoting on its pins, the orientation of a shoe 26 can be adjusted to alter the radial location of the cutting edge of its knife 20 with respect to the axis of the cutting head 12, thereby controlling the thickness of the sliced food product. As an example, adjustment can be achieved with an adjusting screw and/or pin 32 located circumferentially behind the pivot pins. FIG. 2 further shows optional gate insert strips 34 mounted to each shoe 26, which the food product crosses prior to encountering the knife 20 mounted to the succeeding shoe 26.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show the knives 20 and clamps 28B secured to their respective knife holders 28A with bolts 36. Alignment of the knife 20 and clamp 28B of each assembly 28 is achieved with pins 38 (FIG. 3) that protrude from the support surface of the knife holder 26B. As better understood through the detail view of FIG. 4, the opposing surfaces of the knife holder 28A and clamp 28B result in the clamp 28B applying a force to the knife 20 adjacent its cutting edge.
FIGS. 5 and 6 depict a quick-clamping knife assembly 40 disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,658,133 and 8,161,856 that can be used in lieu of the bolts 36 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The knife assembly 40 comprises a knife holder 40A and clamp 40B, the latter of which may be similar if not identical to the clamp 28B of FIGS. 2 and 3. The knife holder 40A includes an optional insert 42 that supports the knife 20 near its cutting edge and serves to protect the edge of the knife holder 40A from stones or other debris that often accompany food products that undergo slicing. The knife holder 40A and clamp 40B are loosely assembled together with a bolt 44 that is installed in the knife holder 40A, passes through the clamp 40B, and is threaded into a clamping bar 46. An eccentric clamping rod 48 is disposed within a recess 50 formed in a surface of the knife holder 40A, and has a flat 52 defined on its otherwise cylindrical peripheral surface. The clamping rod 48 is situated between and contacts the knife holder 40A and a proximal end of the clamp 40B opposite the knife 20. The rod 48 can be rotated within the recess 50 between clamping and release positions, which serve to secure and release, respectively, the knife 20. The clamping position is depicted in FIG. 6 and results from the proximal end of the clamp 40B being engaged by the cylindrical surface of the rod 48, which forces the proximal end outward away from the knife holder 40A and, with the clamping bar 46 serving as a fulcrum, forces the oppositely-disposed distal end of the clamp 40B into engagement with the knife 20. The force applied to the clamp 40B by the rod 48 can be released by rotating the rod 48 so that its flat 52 faces the proximal end of the clamp 40B.
While centrifugal-type slicers of the type represented by the Model CC® have performed extremely well for their intended purpose, further improvements are continuously desired and sought for centrifugal-type slicing machines.